BYOP

So tomorrow is our first Thanksgiving in the new house. Paul has been cooking Thanksgiving dinner since we were married. As a matter of fact, as soon as we were married, my mother announced she was "retired" from preparing holiday meals. On our first Thanksgiving, I thought (naive girl that I am) my family could embrace the "what I am thankful for" tradition. That was the first and last time we attempted such a ritual because 2 of my family members (who shall remain nameless but know who they are) started laughing saying they had nothing to offer up. How about the good old standby "I'm happy I'm above ground"? Anyway, my father said he was thankful I married someone who could cook...

Fast forward to tomorrow. Paul will be doing the cooking (everything except cranberry sauce because I demand canned, Ocean Spray, jellied cranberry sauce with the can marks on it. It's a tradition for goodness sake!) and I have decided to bake pies. From scratch. When asked what kind of pie he would like, my father said he didn't care. My mother told him I was cooking. He responded he would "bring his own pie". Need I say more?

Extremes

I have to admit that I am a very extreme person. Either hot or cold, happy or sad, calm or angry, animated or tired. There is very little gray with me. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the way I live my life... work or home. Because of the nature of my job, it is easy to let boundaries go. I travel all the time and often come home spent - which is another way of saying I have nothing left for the people I love (Paul, Stella, Sophie, family, friends, etc.) I am on the never-ending quest to resolve this personality "trait" (flaw).

I think I just took a big step, and need to brag. We are building a new house. Settlement was supposed to be September 28 which meant Paul would move alone because I have to be out of town the 29th, 30th and 1st. Good news - settlement is the 2nd! I am supposed to be in Birmingham on the 8th for a "nice to do but not necessary" trip. In other words, it is a trip that can definitely be rescheduled and... I just rescheduled it! This means I am taking a week off work to just concentrate on our new home and our new town. I'm really excited.

A wise person once said to me, "would you treat people at work that way?" in reference to an arguement I had with Paul. I had to stop and think because I realized he was absolutely right. Why are we often on our best behavior at work and then not at home? I'm guilty of this because I expend all my energy on the road and have nothing left for my family. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the world will stop turning if I take off work. This is my little way of proving it.